I'll Stand By You
by Flowerstar
Summary: Takes place in "Sea, Sun and Sickness". Spyro is still suffering badly from his severe cold and it's taking its toll on him. Elora will do anything for him and she is always by his bedside, doing all she can to nurse him back to health, no matter what.


Spyro, Elora, Sparx, Dragon Shores, Dragon Realms, Avalar and the Forgotten Worlds and the original _Spyro the Dragon_ series are properties of Insomniac Games or whichever company owns them now. The collaboration title, "_Sea, Sun and Sickness_", rightfully belongs to me and Topaz16 (or pinkcat146, as she's known on deviantART). The song title, "_I'll Stand By You_", and lyrics belong to Girls Aloud.

Back in the good ol' days of 2005 or 2006, I once came up with a song fanfiction with this title which will be based on the final battle from _Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door_ but unfortunately, as the years gone by, I couldn't get anywhere with this idea so I cancelled it or it was scrapped until further notice. Now, I'm hopefully planning to do two versions, the first one will take place in "_Sea, Sun and Sickness_" and pretty much the lyrics and the title says it all, you care for someone you love who is in pain, has fallen ill or is feeling down and you do anything for that person, no matter what it takes to get him or her healthy again or lift up his or her spirits. That's why I think this song is appropriate to use in order to write up a song fanfiction like this. The second version is obviously my cancelled idea that I'm hoping to do but it will be based on the final showdown from _Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door_.

Keep in mind that the song that is included is the Girls Aloud version instead of the original, it was the official Children In Need single way back in 2004 and it stayed at number one in the United Kingdom/Great Britain charts for two weeks. Also, it's my first favourite Girls Aloud song, it's one of Topaz16's favourite songs too and the songfic is sort of inspired from the music video of the original version, which is sung by The Pretenders.

Anyway, I suggest you read the chapters of "_Sea, Sun and Sickness_", watch either the music video of the original version of "_I'll Stand By You_" or Girls Aloud's version and play _Spyro the Dragon_, _Spyro 2: Gateway To Glimmer_ (_Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage!_, as the Americans call it) and _Spyro 3: Year of the Dragon_ to understand the song fanfiction. By the way, just like in the collaboration, Spyro is 14 years old, a teenager in dragon years.

Summary: Takes place in "_Sea, Sun and Sickness_". Spyro is still suffering badly from his severe cold and it's taking its toll on him. Elora will do anything for him and she is always by his bedside, doing all she can to nurse him back to health, no matter what.

* * *

><p><span>I'll Stand By You<span>

After being talked some sense into and since he's been advised to go on sick leave, Spyro returned to the safety and cosiness of his home. Unluckily, persistent hacking coughs were let out of his reptilian lips as he was coughing roughly and harshly into his small, right claw while he approached the front of his house. They appeared to be dry, painful coughs with harsh, unpleasant sounds. Elora, who stood in the doorway on the ground floor, greeted him and make him feel at ease like an ordinary wife would welcome her husband home.

"How was your day, Spyro?" Elora enquired, a smile stretched across her lips and eagerly waiting for a reply from the renowned, undisputed hero of the Dragon Realms, Avalar and the Forgotten Worlds.

Unfortunately, he barely spoke a word, his scaly face is now a paler shade of purple from its normal colour and his legs were shaking violently. Right after the day of the party and the little lifeguard's first day of work, the brunette faun realised what horrible shape he's in and his illness has gone from bad to worse with each passing second so she decided to temporarily stay at his house until he fully recovers.

Everything on the lower floor was spinning around him at an exceedingly fast pace and the furniture, the ceiling and Elora are becoming blurry by the second as he began to lose his eyesight and all the furnishings, objects and the Avalari faun is starting to go black. Finally, he gave out a breathless sigh before his eyes roll backwards until he fell, passing out. Fortunately, the sapphire-eyed, auburn-haired faun caught the poorly, purple protector in her arms before he collapsed to the comfy surface of the soft, tan-coloured carpet.

"Spyro!" Elora exclaimed in sheer alarm, she wasn't expecting the ailing, 14-year-old dragon to faint in front of her. Sure, he lost consciousness before in Dragon Shores but she never thought he would get _this_ sick. "Spyro, are you all right? Please speak to me!" Using all her might, she began shaking him and patting his left cheek frantically but no matter how many times she tried, he wouldn't wake up. _His sickness is getting even worse than I thought. _She thought to herself, she felt very sorry and sympathetic for him that he has to endure this pain and suffering, it's like an eternal nightmare going through it. "Don't worry, I'm here for you. I'll do everything I can to restore you to health and get you back to your normal self." She lowered her pleasant-sounding voice to a whisper, tilting her head to rest on Spyro's left cheek and briefly closed her eyes. Obviously, she means it with every word she spoke.

She lifted her head off of from the fainted, young dragon's cheeks as lightly as can be. She drew in a breath deeply and then exhaled intensely, beginning to sing as beautiful, instrumental music started to play when her voice flowed out of her feminine lips. She carefully flung the ill, teenage defender over her arms so his legs are hanging over them. She began to make her way through the living room while carrying an unconscious Spyro in her arms at a slower pace as if she is taking a lovely, tranquil stroll.

**Elora:**

_Oooooh… yeah, e-yeah… _

_Oh, why you look so sad?_

While she sung the lyric, "_Oh, why you look so sad?_", she couldn't bare to glance at Spyro. He may be in intensive pain but at least he looks peaceful, lying there with his eyes shut tightly with a frown extended from the left corner of his lips to the right.

_Tears are in your eyes  
>Come on and come to me now<br>Don't be ashamed to cry  
>Let me see you through<em>

When she reached the bottom of the staircase, she gradually ascended the hard, dark, wooden steps. Noisy, clopping sounds can be heard as they made contact with the surface with every step she makes.

_'Cause I've seen a dark side too_

_When the night falls on you  
>Don't know what to do<br>Nothing you confess  
>Could make me love you less<em>

At last she entered the sanctuary of Spyro's bedroom which he shared with Sparx and careful as she was, she settled the passed out, cold-stricken hero on the floor without waking him up so she can remove the white and blue striped sheets from the bed to make room for him to lay comfortably on it. Using every bit of strength she has within her, she lifted the purple, golden-horned adolescent from the ground with her arms and placed him in it with care, pulling the covers over his shoulders and haunches but below his head. 

_I'll stand by you_  
><em>I'll stand by you<em>

Taking care of the littlest dragon is just like looking after a child but one thing for sure, she knows it is common sense to take his temperature when he has fallen ill. In fact, this goes for anyone who has gotten sick.

_Won't let nobody hurt you  
>I'll stand by you<em>

Without any hesitation, she willingly walked out of the bedroom in an en route to the bathroom to find a thermometer. The journey was brief and it wasn't long until she came across the bathroom, it was only a few metres away from the bedroom but at the side of the flight of stairs. Since Spyro and Sparx only live in this house, it makes sense why this is a perfect size befitting to their statures.

The walls were decorated with purple and yellow chequered patterns that resemble the colours of their bodies and the very floor she is standing on is covered with a snug, violet carpet. On the right side of the bathroom, there is a white, bathtub with a big, brown tub large enough to fill it to the highest level with water at the bottom as well as hot and cold water taps and a showerhead and hose connected to it. A pint-sized, white toilet with a plum-shaded, comfy toilet seat lies to the right and a sink between the bathtub and the toilet. Right next to the wash-handbasin is a moderately, tall and huge bin that is in a sandy, tan colour with a white, pyramid-shaped lid that flips back and forth, depending on which side it is flipping.

Above the washbasin is a medicine cabinet packed with a variety of bottles of medicine in an assortment of different colours, heights and sizes, a plastic, white spoon for sipping medicine and a thermometer that is below a rectangular-shaped mirror with a baby blue-tinted frame around it. Stuck on the wall on the right side of the toilet is a dragonesque-shaped, toilet tissue holder that is a small number of feet away from the radiator and a rectangular-shaped window with double-glazing can be seen on top of the sink and the toothbrushes and toothpaste cabinet. 

_So if you're mad, get mad_  
><em>Don't hold it all inside<em>  
><em>Come on and talk to me now<em>  
><em>Hey, what you got to hide?<em>

After painstakingly darting her eyes around the bathroom, she caught a glimpse of the thermometer and she opened the cabinet to reach in, in order to take it out. She closed the cabinet door and with one hand, she turned the cold water tap in a clockwise motion, causing the icy-cold, freezing water to pour onto the thermometer and washing it thoroughly. Once she is done with sanitising and cleansing it, she twisted the tap in an anticlockwise motion so the aqua-coloured water is no longer cascading onto the thermometer and exited the doorway with the object in one of her feminine, human-like hands.

_I get angry too  
>Well I'm a lot like you<br>_

Upon returning to the bedroom, Spyro is still out cold in his comfortable bed, the white and blue bed sheets are covering him. He is so motionless to the three worlds that nothing would wake him, not even a sound, a voice or a noise. With a thermometer in her hand, Elora silently pushed it into his mouth without awakening him.

_You're standing at the crossroads  
>And don't know which path to choose<em>

To wait until the thermometer beeps with a reasonably high-pitched sound, Elora made her way out of the bedroom to give the poorly, purple protagonist a few moments of peace to himself. The instant she departed out of the room, she revisited the bathroom to obtain a medium-sized tub. Since she knew her route to the bathroom, it didn't take her long to arrive.

_Let me come along  
>'Cause even if you're wrong<em>

Once inside the room, she found a rather medium-sized tub lying in a slanted position in the bath. Using both of her human-like hands, she hoisted it up and carried it to the sink to let it settle at the bottom. She allowed her sapphire eyes to wander around the room until a petite, purple towel that was hanging from black handle on a yellow and white chequered towel rack was in her sights. Obviously, the towel belongs to Spyro that she assumed and took the liberty of taking it off with the intention of situating it in the tub.

She rotated the hot water and cold water taps in a clockwise motion, causing thinner waterfalls of sparkling, uncontaminated water gushing continuously into the tub, filling it little by little and letting the towel to soak in. Checking to see if the temperature is correct and precise for cooling off the teenage dragon's fever, she dipped her left hand into the watery, aqua liquid and brought it back up. She simply nodded, satisfied with the warmth giving off from the big bulk of water. It took ten seconds until the brown tub is loaded up. 

_I'll stand by you_

Not wanting to be responsible for a possible flood, she swiftly twisted round the taps, switching the water off to avoid a flood accident. Now that the task is done at last with no time to spare, she clings onto both sides of the tub, leaving the bathroom and carrying it all the way back to quiet solitude of the fourteen-year-old, reptilian, winged creature's bedroom where he is laid up in bed in an unconscious state. Her hooves made clopping sounds along the smooth, crimson carpet of the narrow hallway and the second the piercing beeps entered her ears, she picked up the pace with her walking before the thermometer turns itself off.

_I'll stand by you_

She rushed back to the dragon's bedroom with the large, brown-coloured tub that she gripped tightly in her hands and placed it down, in front of her with care. Next, she knelt down to it and dipped a towel into the large body of crystal-clear water before squeezing it tightly with a large amount of force and stood up to her hooves, silently folding the towel into a shape of a rectangle and positioning it on the purple-skinned, sick saviour's forehead to lower down his tremendously high fever.

Recalling the shrill of beeping sounds from not many minutes ago, she noiselessly pulled out the thermometer and brought it to her face, staring at it to see how high or low the temperature is. _105 degrees… uh-oh, this can't be good. This might explain why he fainted. _She thought to herself, looking back on what horrible shape Spyro was in when he returned home before he fell limp and losing consciousness, a small number of hours ago. In case she needs to take his temperature for the second time, she let it rest on his nightstand in front of his digital alarm clock.

_Won't let nobody hurt you  
>I'll stand by you<em>

In measly minutes, he began to stir as his eyelids fluttered and let out a shallow moan. He was able to see but vaguely whilst his eyes were partly open. When Elora and the surroundings of his bedroom except for Sparx eventually came into his vision, he purely laid flat on his scaly, purple-tinted back, extremely ill in bed and wasn't in a good-humoured mood to sit up in an upright position.

"Thank goodness you're awake! I was worried sick about you!" Elora was overjoyed to see the heroic, feisty dragon fully awake after a long time but the worst of his dreadful cold is yet to come.

_Take me in, into your darkest hour  
>And I'll never desert you<br>I'll stand by you_

Just then, he shot up straight with an uncontrollable hacking coughing fit before he had a chance to answer as Spyro closed his eyes firmly and was coughing harder, with maximum effort and at an alarmingly fast rate. As he moved a clenched claw to his lips, his severe, hacking coughs grew intensively louder and nauseatingly painful by the minute and are indeed taking a turn for the worse. Every time he coughs, his throat hurts from how disturbing his hacking coughs are.

They sound so sickening, it's enough to make anyone lose their appetites, grimace uncomfortably or shudder uneasily. Pretty much, that's how the brown-haired, azure-eyed female felt right now, despite of desperately wanting to spend some quality time with a coughing Spyro and doing everything in her power to make him better again. 

_And when..._  
><em>When the night falls on you, baby<em>  
><em>You're feeling all alone<em>

"Oh my goodness! Spyro, are you okay?" Elora yelled in absolute panic, the volume in her voice escalated to the maximum level as her eyes bulge huge at the sight of her sweetheart suffering from a hacking coughing fit. She settled down on the white and Carolina blue striped sheets, shimmied to his bedside and gently patted his back to calm him down as her way to comfort him. "I'll make you a nice, warm cup of tea, it will do you good for your lungs."

_You won't be on your own_

She left the bedroom and went down the flight of unbreakable, dark-painted, wooden steps. She figured that the sooner she fixes up a cup of tea mixed together with sugared sweetness of honey, the sooner she brings Spyro's uncontainable fit of uninterrupted, hacking coughs to a halt. It seems his unendurable, unpleasant coughs kept on going endlessly with no end in sight and sometimes, they grew noisier or quieter the more the female, azure-eyed faun travelled to the kitchen with every step she makes.

_I'll stand by you_

When she finally entered the kitchen, Elora caught a glimpse of a golden, bright spark flickering and floating about like a firefly. Upon close inspection, it was none other than Sparx, who seemed to be beating the air with his teeny wings around the kitchen busily, darting hither and thither as if he is already overwhelmed with the schedule or tasks he needs to do.

From the corners of her cerulean eyes, she spotted a full-sized, black-tinted pan on top of a humongous, white cooker and an opened tin can of chicken soup on one of the counters beside the minuscule dragonfly. A waft of steam and a chicken flavoured aroma curled its way up to the ceiling in translucent, countless coils and wormed its way further into the air, it is just like smoke except that it isn't noxious and poisonous. It is surprising how he was able to carry and use objects that are larger than him, considering his miniature stature and diminutive arms and gloved hands.

_I'll stand by you_

"Hi, Elora. I didn't notice you coming into the kitchen." Sparx said with a friendly smile, buzzing as his way of communicating with her since he couldn't speak in English.

"Me neither. I was busy taking care of Spyro upstairs. I know this is probably none of my business but what are you doing downstairs?" Elora couldn't help but ask the golden dragonfly a question, due to the fact she hasn't seen him anywhere in the house except the kitchen. Ever since she was busily tending to Spyro and trying her best to relieve him from the symptoms of his awful cold, she didn't know his sidekick is occupied with the chores in the kitchen.

"I'm washing the dishes and making chicken soup for Spyro. What are you doing?"

"I'm fixing him a hot cup of tea with honey, it's for his throat."

Realising that something might be bothering his old friend and she didn't speak for a while, Sparx decided to break the discomfiting quietness that fell over them. "What is the matter, Elora? You seemed a bit quiet today."

Having the courage to talk about what is making her restless without stuttering, Elora found the words to speak to the golden dragonfly while fidgeting unnervingly with her fingers. She never witnessed Spyro suffering from a hacking coughing fit before and thought that maybe Sparx might know what's the matter with him because they knew each other really well since the beginning. "Do you know what's wrong with Spyro lately? He's been coughing for numerous minutes on end."

"To be honest, I'm not sure. He never told me why he kept coughing and sneezing with no sign of stopping. That's what making me really worried." Sparx lowered his voice to a minimal level, he knew Spyro is currently suffering from his insufferable, hacking coughs and his symptoms but he assumed he wasn't comfortable with letting him know about his coughing and sneezing fits because he doesn't want him to be a worrywart.

"I know how you feel. I'm just as concerned as you are."

Still at the kitchen, Elora and Sparx can even hear the poorly, purple protagonist's stomach-churning, hacking coughs from upstairs that made them feel ill at ease, nervous and quiver awkwardly, due to how painfully and unpleasantly they sound. Apparently, Spyro's unmanageable fit of consecutive, hacking coughs still carry on and on, minutes without end like a continuous cycle that never ceased.

Trying to block out the horrendous, unsettling coughs from her hearing, she went to a nearby counter and stood up on her hooves to obtain a purple-coloured mug from the white cupboards above her, she opened both doors of it and managed to get a normal-sized mug that has a similar shade to the youthful, purple dragon's scales. After successfully grabbing a mug from the cupboard, she closed it before quietly placing it down on the counter. She reached for a tea bag that is inside a brown and light brown striped box that filled to the brim with numerous tea bags that is located on a nearby, white counter.

When she promptly inserted the tea bag into the cup, she noticed a kettle that is sitting next to a row of glass cups on the same counter she's standing close to and carefully poured the crystal clear, boiling water into the cup. Finally, she opened the drawers to take out a silver teaspoon that was within a neatly, organised array of cutlery and pushed the drawer upwards, in order to shut it securely and gently positioned the spoon in front of her.

Secondly, she spotted a transparent, rectangular container of white, sweet sugar that was concealed securely with a circular, red-coloured lid that was located on the left side of the jar of honey. She took the spoon from the counter so she was able to plunge it into the container to get a spoonful of sugar. As soon as she did that, she tipped the sugar into the cup before moving on to the next step of making honey-flavoured tea for the cold-stricken hero who was laid up in bed.

She then noticed a translucent, oblong jar of golden, gooey honey that is tasty and syrupy enough to eat but also, it is an effective way to soothe the lungs and relieve from a certain somebody's coughing. Above the jar, it is secured safely with a silver, shiny lid that is in a shape of a circle. Not wasting any time, she turned it in a clockwise motion to open the lid to reveal the sticky, sugary goodness of the honey and picked up the spoon to stick it into the sweetened substance.

When she has a spoonful of honey, she raised it above, in order to dunk it into the broiling, see-through water and stirring it and the honey together in a circular and clockwise motion until both of them dissolved and transformed into a honey-flavoured tea inside a cup. A combination of vapour and steam were coming off of it, gradually levitating and rising into the air.

_Won't let nobody hurt you  
>I'll stand by you<em>

Finally, it is all set for her to bring it upstairs to a cold-stricken Spyro, who is still bedridden and completely in no condition to head outside, let alone to Dragon Shores.

"Are you coming upstairs, Sparx? I finished making tea." Elora turned her attention to the gold-coloured dragonfly who was still occupied with fixing a moderately warm bowl of chicken soup to make his poorly, best friend feel better.

"Nah, you go on ahead. The chicken soup isn't ready yet." Sparx shook his head in response to the Avalari faun's question, still hovering near the stove and beating the air with his minuscule wings.

"I'll see you upstairs, Sparx."

"All right then, goodbye!"

_Take me in, into your darkest hour_

And with that, Elora bids the golden, winged insect farewell who waved goodbye with one, white-gloved hand before disappearing out the doorway and heading back up the staircase with the homeproduced, cup of tea in tow. By the time she returned to Spyro's bedroom, he had recovered from his hacking coughing fit. He leaned backwards so his scaly head gently rests on his big, soft pillow and his watery, bloodshot and puffy eyes were half-opened in a sickly, non-drowsy mood, gazing towards the doorway where the brunette-haired female stood with a reasonably, boiling cup of homemade tea with honey beautifully blended into the watery liquid.

"Here is a cup of warm tea mixed with honey, Spyro. It will soothe your throat and calm your coughs." She said with a compassionate smile, slowly walking to the fourteen-year-old, purple dragon's bedside with a purple-tinted mug in her dainty, womanly hands.

Before he could answer, a consecutive chain of terrible, hacking coughs were expelled from Spyro's fiery lungs as he coughed disturbingly, faintly and frequently in a short, broken manner into his white handkerchief after pulling one out from a violet tissue box. "Thanks—" His sentence was cut short when a few extra hacking coughs were ejected from his reptilian gullet whilst he covered his little maw with the same tissue but his coughs weren't as deafening as his previous coughs. "Thanks Elora." After placing down his hankie on his bed sheets, he reached out his claws to grab the cup of hot, piping tea with his miniature, white talons and quickly settled it on his nightstand.

_And I'll never desert you  
>I'll stand by you<em>

"It's my pleasure. Be careful, it's scalding hot and be sure not to burn yourself." Elora warned, she sternly looked intently into the golden-horned, purple-eyed dragon but not unsympathetically as she extended out her hands to offer the mug to him.

"Who's the fire-breather here, Elora?" Spyro replied in an overconfident tone, a smug smirk slowly visible across his reptilian lips while crossing his arms. He was confident that he could handle the temperature, no matter how sweltering it is. "If I can breathe fire, I'm sure I can stand the heat." This was followed by a few dry coughs that are coughs without expectoration whilst he coughed into his small, purple-scaled claw.

"You're so cocky for your own good, even when you're feeling under the weather." Elora giggled to herself, finding Spyro's cockiness and arrogance amusing. Her contenting smile immediately changed to a frown, recalling his nasty cold, his unsettling, hacking coughs and symptoms. "I'm so sorry you have to endure all of this, especially your coughs. They are already worsening by the second." 

_(I'll stand by you my baby)_  
><em>I'll stand by you<em>  
><em>(I'll stand by you my baby)<em>

"Don't be, it's not your fault that I wasn't feeling well. Anyway, how long was I—" The purple protector stopped in mid-sentence when he felt something was tickling uncomfortably in his nostrils. He instantly dragged out a flimsy, soft tissue from a nearby tissue box, placing the handkerchief over his nose and bends back his head, preparing to sneeze. "AH… AHH… AHHH… AH-CHOOOOOOOO!" He threw forward his cranium, expelling air from his nose suddenly, involuntarily and noisily at the same time, sending out a torrent of fire and a great deal of perfectly revolting snot from his reddish, stuffy nose, reducing his hankie to a mound of smoldering ash in the process. "How long was I out for?" He weakly asked, sniveling and pulled another blank handkerchief to blow his nose with a lot of force within him.

_Won't let nobody hurt you  
>(Yeah, yeaaaaah!)<em>

_I'll stand by you  
>I'll stand by you<em>

"Bless you. About one or two hours and during that time, I took the opportunity to care for you while you was in your unconscious state." Elora gave a detailed explanation of how she took care of the courageous, winged reptile while he was out for the count as if he was sleeping in silence like a baby dragon without a care in the world.

_Take me in, into your darkest hour  
>Won't let nobody hurt you<br>I'll stand by you_

"Thanks for taking ca—" Spyro stopped in full flow of his sentence when he had a tickly, irritating feeling inside his lungs and had the urge to cough. He bent down his head, his dragon breath was hitching and a combination of hacking, rasping and wheezing sounds were let loose, followed by a sequence of painful-sounding, hacking coughs. He was coughing violently into his little, scaly claw as they grew noisier and sounded disgustingly with each hacking cough. The Avalarian faun was shaken and traumatized from letting those disturbing coughs blaring deafeningly into her pointy, pink ears. After a bout of coughing, he lifts up his head and removed his claw from his lips. "… Taking care of me, Elora. I really appreciate it."

_I'll stand by you  
>I'll stand by you<em>

The serene, harmonious music began to fade out after she sung last lyric of the song at the same time as she brought her melodious singing to an end that means the song has finished. It was her way of expressing how she felt around the purple protagonist and telling him how much she is going through all that trouble to care for him like a mother or a nurse, through a song. It is like a compassionate contrast to Spyro's severe cold, including his coughing, sneezing and his symptoms that are nastily displeasing to anyone's ears.

"It is the least I could do for the time you saved Avalar from Ripto's rampage a couple of years ago. So, I'm returning the favour by nursing you back to health. Just out of curiosity, why are you coughing like crazy?" Elora fondly beamed in the headstrong, purple dragon's direction but her expression changed straight away when a question struck her as she recalled the unpleasant reminiscence of him suffering from an uncontrollable fit of unrelenting, hacking coughs.

"Don't worry, Elora. It's just a coughing fit, I'll be fine. I'm sure it's nothing serious, it occasionally happens." Spyro assured with a weakly grin in a hoarse, shallow voice, reassuring a concerned Elora that his hacking coughing fit isn't a sign of a deadly illness. "Honestly! I don't know why you and Sparx are worrying about me all the time." He frowned at the green-clothed, brunette-haired faun and his dragonfly sidekick, believing that the symptom isn't serious.

"We worry about you 'cause you're my best friend and Elora's boyfriend. We look out for one another, that's what best friends do. I know you think you're too old for anyone taking care of you but we're just looking out for your well-being. So, stop being stubborn, Spyro." Sparx was just in time to overhear the conversation between Spyro and Elora when he flew into the bedroom with a lavender tray of brown, but see-through, bottle of cough syrup that is closed tightly with a spherical, pallid white lid, a plastic, white spoon and a plum-coloured bowl of chicken soup with a silver, shimmering spoon inside in his diminutive, gloved hands.

Within the bowl is a watery, coloured liquid of goodness filled to the brim with chopped up bits of carrots, succulent chicken and perfectly cooked peas, it looks delicious enough to drink and has full of flavour. Those were an adequate amount of nutrients to make him feel a bit better and good inside. A chicken-flavoured aroma lingered in the air, it's so highly seasoned Elora and Sparx can smell it from a mile away or up close except for Spyro, because of his blocked up, red nose and nostrils.

Due to the fact that the nightstand is already crowded with a few things such as his lamp, his cup of honey-flavoured tea and a box of innumerable tissues, the golden dragonfly lightly set the tray on the small, wooden desk beside the blank, piece of paper. He then lift the small bottle and the plastic spoon from the rectangular-shaped tray to hand them over to the green, sleeveless-shirted faun, in order to feed the liquor-like, sweetened medicine with a hint of blackcurrant to the spunky, fire-spewing defender of the three worlds.

She poured it into the spoon, the liquid flowed from the top of the bottle to the bottom of the spoon like a waterfall descending into a large mass of water from above and promptly pushed it towards the poorly, purple protector's scaly face. "Here's some cough syrup for you, it's blackcurrant flavour."

Quickly as he spoken those words, Spyro grimaced and instantly backed away until his rough, scaly back was touching against his blue, cosy-looking pillow. He didn't like the appearance of the purple-coloured, syrupy substance on the spoon, especially if it's shoved in front of his face. "There's no way I'm taking that."

After hearing Spyro's refusal, Elora rose up to her feet, putting her hands on her hips and shot a stern look in his direction, attempting to talk some sense to him as if she is scolding at him. "Spyro, look, you need to take your medicine. If you don't get rid of your coughs, you'll get even sicker."

Unfortunately, Spyro's stubbornness got the better of him; he was shaking his head repeatedly and still refusing to drink his medicine. "You can't make me taste it."

"I suppose I can't force you but you'll leave me no choice to do this." As Elora said this, she bends down and made rapid, tickling movements with her fingers to make the purple protagonist fall about laughing.

"H-Hey! Th-that ti-tickles!" Spyro squeezed his eyes shut, doubled up with laughter and his eyes were streaming with watery tears while he couldn't stop laughing so hard, kicking his legs back and forth repetitively as Elora continued to tickle his vulnerable spot that is his light yellow belly. He kept kicking after what seemed like thirty seconds has passed that he kicked the bed sheets off of him in the process. "Cu-Cut i-it out!"

Using her chance to execute phase two of her plan while Spyro was still in a fit of laughter, Elora hurriedly forced the spoon right into his miniature maw before he was aware of this happening.

When the blackcurrant syrup left a repugnant, distasteful taste (or so he thought) on his red tongue, his guffawing died down to a minimum whilst he narrowed his eyes and made a face as if he was about to vomit. "Ugh! That's… That's disgusting! I… I think… I'm gonna throw up…!" This followed by a combination of sputtering, hacking and coughing sounds being pushed out of his throat and mouth.

There's one thing for sure that sometimes dragons his age can be difficult to put up with, especially the ones who won't do as they were told. "Boys…" She grumbled, slightly appalled with the young, purple dragon's behaviour. Her expression softened as she lightened up and she reached out her right hand to grab the handle of the cup and handed it to the short, dragon teen, who received it in his tiny, white talons. "Feeling any better?"

Spyro took several sips from his tea to get rid of the aftertaste, feeling the liquid disappearing down his reptilian gullet and sighed deeply, relieved from his spluttering, hacking and coughing. "Yeah… I'm a little bit better but a bit light-headed." A yawn then escaped his small jaws as he covered them with a single claw before setting the purple-tinted cup down on his nightstand. "I just need some sleep."

"Well, sleep is important but before you doze off, have a bowl of chicken soup. It's a surefire cure for your sickness."

Refusing for the third time, the purple, scaly creature laid a claw on his pale yellow-coloured stomach, indicating that he doesn't have a craving for any type of food at the moment, whether it is in a liquid or a solid form. Clearly, it is one of his symptoms. "I don't feel hungry at the moment, I think I lost my appetite."

Elora heaved a sigh in a dismayed manner before pinching both corners of the top of the white and Carolina blue striped sheets and pulling them over the fire-breathing, sick saviour's shoulders and haunches but under his head. "You need to eat something Spyro or you'll never get back to normal any time soon. The quicker you make a full recovery, the quicker you'll be able to breathe fire again."

"Elora, he's not hungry. I'll take it back downstairs and reheat it later on if he wants it." Sparx understood that his close friend isn't in the mood to eat anything right now and presumed that he'll have to drink the soup afterwards. He flapped his wings repeatedly, travelling to where he placed the tray and picked it up without difficulty, in spite of his extremely small size. Before heading out the door, he winked at his best buddy while saying the usual goodnight sentence. "Good night, sleep tight and don't let the bedbugs bite!"

"Sparx, you know I'm too old for that." Spyro murmured, he emotionlessly stares at his best friend while his eyes were half closed in an expressionless way and his scaly face has the same emotion.

"Pleasant dreams, Spyro, and get well soon." Elora ignored her love interest's comment and smiled empathetically in his direction as she bend over to his level and planted a kiss on his scaly lips which is her way of saying goodnight to him.

She thought she could see his cheeks flush a little with a pale tint of reddishness and she soon drew away from him when their lips parted. She wanted to deepen the kiss but she knew he needed plenty of bed rest. The ruddiness in his cheeks gradually diminished at a slower pace until it faded back to the same purplish colour of his scales before he moved his head to the left and a few, productive coughs left his reptilian lips, coughing into his petite, purple claw. They appear to be coughs with expectoration of material from the bronchi and they are croaky, wet and shallow with a hint of mucus that came from his lungs. After a bout of coughing, he shifted himself down so he is underneath the covers and he is reclining on his back in a vertical position.

Only some hoarse wheezes were forced out of Spyro's mouth before he had a chance to utter his last words for the evening. "Thanks, Elora and Sparx. You guys really know how to look after me." A feeble smile was then broadened across his lips, thankful for the hospitality and kindness in his time of need.

To give the unwell, fourteen-year-old juvenile some peace and quiet to himself, Elora placed a hand to her lovely lips and blew a kiss to him and nodded, accepting his gratitude before turning to the doorway as she made her way to it and vanished out the room, followed by Sparx, who fluttered after her with the tray without making a sound. Spyro's eyelids began to shut, feeling them drooping until they closed completely and he fell asleep, his chest continuously rise up and down in rhythm to his heartbeat and breathing as he snored heavily.

Needless to say, they never bonded in the past since they were too busy to develop their union due to their responsibilities, duties and schedules but it seems his sickness has brought them together and rekindled their relationship. This is the time when he needed her most and without her support, he'll never make a full recovery. Even an almighty, heroic dragon can become frail, defenceless and incapacitated and a caring, helpful ally can nurse him back to health in times like this.

Maybe, just maybe, his enemies won't return with a vengeance and planning to take advantage of his illness if they find out he's not himself as well as launching an attack on the Dragon Realms, Avalar and the Forgotten Worlds when the he, his chums and the citizens least expect it.

* * *

><p>Just keep in mind that this takes place in one of the future chapters of "<em>Sea, Sun and Sickness<em>" but read it at your own risk if you don't like spoilers. Now that the _Eurovision Song Contest 2011 _is over (it was shown in the following days: Tuesday 10th May, Thursday 12th May and Saturday 14th May) and my exams are finally outta the way, I can focus on my fanfictions I've been neglecting, including "_Spyro & Jake Long: Ripto's Revenge_" and catching up with my hobbies.

If you're wondering why Spyro couldn't take care of himself in the song fanfiction, it is 'cause he hardly gets sick and when he has fallen ill, he isn't used to suffering with a cold or the flu since his immune system is strong and well-protected. The second chapter also explains why he couldn't handle a cold, let alone a cold that is severe.

Unlike "_Rolling Back The Rivers In Time_", there is some Spyro x Elora romance and it isn't one-sided this time. It is also quite the opposite to what is shown in the official music video of the original version of the song. Sure, the singer will do anything for the man she loved but he didn't return any feelings and he didn't seem to be grateful for all the things she done. As for Spyro, he is thankful for Elora staying by his side and always tending to him. However, just like "_Sea, Sun and Sickness_", the genres that are suitable for the song fanfic are Hurt/Comfort/Romance.

In the future at some point, I might be planning to write a short oneshot based on one of my favourite parts from the _Spyro 2: Gateway To Glimmer_/_Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage!_ Epilogue but since I already have enough practise getting Ripto in character from working on the previous chapters for "_Spyro & Jake Long: Ripto's Revenge_", I'll have no trouble writing the story. Although, I'm not promising anything, it's a possible idea and it's not confirmed.

I'd say the hardest things to write is to describe the bathroom and how to end the song fanfiction. Just let me know in your review or comment if I'm missing anything that is supposed to be in the bathroom and I'll correct the words, sentences and paragraphs that are wrong. If you don't like the couple or the song, then don't read and give me feedback.


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